Oathkeeper out to land another first for Joseph

5.15 Galway
Colm Quinn BMW Novice Hurdle | 2m | RTE2/ATR

Joseph O’Brien has wasted little time in doing most things since he swapped riding for training. On his first official day as a trainer he had four winners and he has managed to maintain that relentless gallop over the last few weeks. And last night he enjoyed a special Galway first when Motherland landed the 1m4½f Flat handicap under brother Donnacha – and today Oathkeeper provides O’Brien with a big chance of opening his Ballybrit account over jumps in this intriguing novice hurdle.

He looked the part in bumpers and justified his skimpy price on his hurdling bow at Killarney when Barry Geraghty did not have to get too serious, but today’s test is much tougher as O’Brien is well aware. The trainer said: “Oathkeeper is a nice horse and I was very pleased with him at Killarney. He might not have beaten much there but he jumped nicely and did what he had to do. This will be a lot tougher but he is a horse we like and hopefully he can run well.”